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Ok, I don't feel too robbed then! I wish I had studied harder at workwork in school now. Paying all this money for what appears to be basic cuts of wood for hive parts seems crazy. Especially when I am the one nailing it all together.

I did the LBKA introduction course a month or so ago. It was a weekend course which covered the basics, frame building and some apiary time. I found it very useful, reinforcing what i had read plus introduced new topics for further research. For me the best part of it was actually meeting lots...

Thanks BB and MM. Sus, out of interest, how much were yours? N

Yes, probably much more, this is London after all! I think I paid around £15 for it. The normal plastic one was £6 which had already been paid for, so just having to pay the difference made it more palatable. Hopefully I will be more economical when building my second hive...

Hi Polyanwood, yes, that will be the man! The QX is flush one side and beespace the other like you say. In G's defence, he had all QX's in stock and I decided on the upgrade from just a plastic one. When you use these QX's, do you put the the flush side up or down? I was was going to have it...

Just picked up a framed QX today which had been out of stock when I bought my hive a few weeks back. The guy who owns the shop said that I should have it so it creates a top bee space above the brood box to avoid squashings. However having it this way means there will be a top bee space above...

Ok, all done! Minimal upset and hive seems to be going back to normal. It was also a good chance to get to inspect the hive frame by frame as they were moved accross. Could not see the queen but made sure that any bees that dropped outside of the hive were not her. Hopefully she's safe and...

Thanks m. Abielle. Will do that then! N

Ok, thanks for advice so far. I only have one hive at the moment, I.e. One base etc. I am going to pick up the new bb today. How would I switch them over with only this equipment? I was going set the new bb by the side of the current hive, sitting on a temporary base of somekind, then move each...

I have my first colony which is doing well. however, when I built the brood box I did not get the runners at the top where the bars fit in exactly the right position so there is a slight gap where the frames are not flush with the top surface. This has created a space larger than the normal bee...

And a nice dark one too!

"Drones are haploid, queens diploid; drones maybe seen as an exact genetic replica of half the queens's genome (ignoring any mutation)." Nicely put! N

Enrico, a fertilised (mated) queen can lay eggs that are either fertilised or non-fertilised. This allows her to chose between laying female workers/queens (fertilised) or drones (unfertilised). An unfertilised queen can only lay unfertilised eggs, I.e. Drones. A drone is an exact genetic...

Lol. I can't say it filled my heart with the joys of nature! Hopefully it was just a dragonfly or damselfly resting on a leaf. It was from the kitchen window so too far to get a positive ID. Fingers crossed. N

Noted. Its only one bee that pops out, but hopefully she'll go back to ignoring me again soon. The on off rain we are getting seems to frustrate them. Also I noticed what appeared to be a large hornet hiding in the tree above the hive this evening scoping the joint out.

Hi Richard, it may be better to wait for the current new queen's offspring to emerge to assess their temperament before I put a new one in!

I can watch it on iPlayer and skip to the good bit then! :)

Post is old! Just a delayed reply to huntsman bought it back up. Colony is nearly 3 weeks old now and seems to be doing well. The capped brood is in solid ovals on almost all 5 frames with eggs and larvae in the rest.

I have also noticed my newly started colony has become, let's say a little more aware of my presence when I am around the hive. I have a new friend who comes out to greet me if I sit on a nearby bench for more than a few minutes, and will buzz around my head until I am forced to walk away...

Thanks for the info. Very useful. Got 5 frames pretty much full of capped brood now. Should start to see new offspring within the week.